The massive Diocesan Centre at 1245 Kilborn Place sits on 8.7 acres of land that will eventually be developed for mixed-use by the city. The purchase is a private sale that must still be approved by city council.“The acquisition of 1245 Kilborn Place is a unique and rare opportunity for the City to acquire lands in close proximity to transit, community services and amenities that could be utilized to meet future housing needs,” the city said in its report. “The negotiated price of $18.
“I’ll be honest. It needs a lot of repairs before we can move anyone in there. But we’ll develop the rest of the property and we’ll work very closely with the community on that.” “When we started talking about the need for subsidized housing and supportive housing, that property became of interest. It’s already set up for close to 100 rooms,” Carr said. “I think that’s why the church was interested in selling to us, because they knew it would be used for this purpose.”
Carr anticipates the residents in the neighbourhood will have questions about the city’s plans and the nature of supportive housing.